Word of the Day TMNT
by darke wulf
Summary: Drabbles of various lengths using dictionary dot com's "Words of the Day" as prompts. Please see individual stories for any specific warnings. Rating may change in the future.
1. Day One: Equivocate

_Disclaimer: Unless you don't recognize them, I don't own them. No money or other profits are being made from this attempt at entertainment. _

_**Please note, as with all my TMNT stories, the ages of the Turtles are Leo, Raph, Don then Mikey (from eldest to youngest). **__Personally, I just find Leo and Raph being the two eldest makes the most sense based on personalities and the interactions between the Turtles._

_So I had this idea to hopefully improve my stream of consciousness writing ability (which is currently non-existent) by setting myself the task of writing *something*, no matter how short, each day. Of course, this begged the question, where would the inspiration for these pieces come from. _

_Eventually I decided to hit two birds with one stone and work on improving my vocabulary at the same time. Thus I decided that each day I would use the Dictionary (dot) com 'Word of the Day' as my prompt. _

_Of course, I already find myself four days behind, and day one didn't wind up as a stream of consciousness fic but more of my usual write a bit here, a bit there, leave it, come back to it, repeat style but at least I'm trying, right?_

_The full range of work will probably wind up encompassing several different series (TMNT, Naruto, Inuyasha, Harry Potter, Various Comics/Cartoons, etc). Only TMNT will be posted in this document. For the full range of work, please see my profile._

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_As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!_

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Day One: Equivocate

\ih-KWIV-uh-kayt\, intransitive verb: To be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or to avoid committing oneself to anything definite.

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Donatello sat stunned in the chair in his lab, where he had been working on an advanced guidance and tracking system for the battle shell until his brother had disturbed him. His doe brown eyes took in the gaming system held in his brother's hands with dismay.

Only two weeks ago he had gifted it to Michelangelo for his birthday, having saved the small personal allowance he granted himself from his paychecks for months to afford it. Only two weeks ago it had been brand new, straight out of the packaging, and now it lay in a mangled heap in his brother's arms.

"What happened?!"

The apologetic look on Michelangelo's face deepened and he shuffled his right foot slightly, squirming where he stood in the lab's doorway under his older brother's incredulous stare. "Umm…the wii got broken."

Donatello continued to stare at the demolished system, a small corner of his mind absently categorizing the damage and listing all the potential actions by which it could have been caused. "I can see that, but what the shell did you do to it?"

Michelangelo started to gesture with his hands, only to realize that he was still holding the wii. He looked down at it for a moment, as if contemplating his response, before looking up earnestly and Donatello. "Dude, it's **totally** not my fault!"

Donatello sighed, feeling a headache coming on. He rested his elbows on the desk in front of him and dropped his head tiredly into his hands as he prepared himself for another one of his brother's epic fictions. "Mikey…"

"I'm serious!" Michelangelo exclaimed, finally just shifting the console into his left arm, leaving his right free to gesture imploringly. "It was just bad luck."

Donatello's response was a disbelieving glance towards his brother over his eye ridges, face still in his hands.

"You don't believe me?" Michelangelo asked, assuming a wounded expression and placing his right hand over his heart. "Look, this day has sucked. Period. First, I woke up late for training and got lectured by Leo and Splinter **and** had to do five extra katas. Thanks for waking me, by the way."

"Mikey, it's not my fault…"

"By the time I was done you guys had eaten all the leftover pizza and I was stuck making my own breakfast. Which I didn't mind at first, 'cause I was really in the mood for a sausage and anchovy omelet, but when I went to make it we were completely out of eggs. So I was stuck with cold cereal…not even **good** cereal, but Leo's Bran Flakes, which were nothing but mush before I was even halfway through the bowl and tasted like cardboard. Blech."

Donatello sighed as he realized that there would be no stopping his brother's monologue. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to let Mikey get everything out of his system, as he obviously needed to vent. Turning back to the table in front of him, he continued sketching out his ideas for the battle shell, making sounds of encouragement every so often as Michelangelo continued to speak.

"So then I figured I'd take out the 'board for a bit of de-stressing, only to find out that one of my wheels got cracked last time I was out and I don't have any spares left.

"No problemo, right, I'll just head up and grab a new set. Only it is a problem, because thanks to Raph's stunt Wednesday night with the Foot we're all grounded until things 'cool down' some. Seriously, as if a fifteen minute trip to the bike shop was going to bring the Foot down on our heads!"

"Hmm…" Donnie glanced through his calculations again, perturbed that the numbers weren't coming out as he had hypothesized.

"Exactly! So then I decided I would do some more training, hone my Battle Nexus Champion reflexes, only for my wii to get completely trashed! And now I don't have anything to do, I'm stuck in the lair for at least the next three days, and I'm totally, life-threateningly **bored**!"

"Ah!" There it was! Donatello moved to a new piece of paper, redoing his calculations and correcting the mistake he had found.

"Yeah, it's just not fair! I'm a good person…or turtle. I fight crime, I help people, I'm cheerful and fun to be around. And I'm incredibly **cute**. What could I have possibly done to have all these bad things happening to me?"

The long silence clued Donnie in that Michelangelo was expecting actual input from him. He contemplated answering his brother's question, only to conclude that he didn't really want to get into the philosophical debate that would likely erupt. Change of subject, then.

"Mikey, you still haven't told me **what** exactly happened to the wii."

"Yes I did. I woke up late…"

"Mikey! Stop!" Donatello demanded, not willing to sit through another telling of his brother's day. "Yes, you have given me a disturbingly detailed account of your day thus far, but you never said anything about **HOW the wii was broken**!"

"Oh, ah…why does it matter? It's broken, I'm hoping you can fix it…does how really matter in the grand scheme of things?"

"Mikey…" Donnie growled, quickly losing patience.

"Okay, okay already," he relented, holding his free hand out, palm facing Donatello. "Sheesh, keep your shell on. It was a simple mistake, really. Anyone could have done it…"

"Mikey…"

Donatello was sure he saw a faint blush on his brother's face as Michelangelo dropped his face to the ground and quickly blurted, "Um…I…erm…satonit."

"You did **what**?!" Donnie shouted incredulously. "How on earth did you manage to…no, you know what, I don't want to know," he decided, hands moving in a negating motion before he pointed with his left hand at a desk near where Mikey was standing. "Put it there on the desk and I'll see if it's in any way salvageable, but I'm not making any promises."

Michelangelo's face came up to look at his brother, bright with a huge grin. "Thanks, Donnie! You're the best brother ever!"

"Yeah, yeah," Donatello gestured to the door, "just get out of here before you pass on your bad luck to me."


	2. Day Five: Cavort

_Disclaimer: Unless you don't recognize them, I don't own them. No money or other profits are being made from this attempt at entertainment. _

_**Please note, as with all my TMNT stories, the ages of the Turtles are Leo, Raph, Don then Mikey (from eldest to youngest). **__Personally, I just find Leo and Raph being the two eldest makes the most sense based on personalities and the interactions between the Turtles._

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_Please see the first drabble of this series for the full Author's Notes._

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Day Five: Cavort

\kuh-VORT\, intransitive verb:

1. To bound or prance about.

2. To have lively or boisterous fun; to behave in a high-spirited, festive manner.

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Donatello, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room of the lair, took in the site before him with extreme trepidation.

"Whoo-hoo! Alright!" the turtle in front of him shouted, throwing his hands in the air and laughing in celebration.

Donatello shook his head…closed his eyes…rubbed them…took a deep breath…opened his eyes…nope, still there.

"Yatta!" Four back flips, followed by a cartwheel and front handspring.

Leonardo came up behind his purple-banded brother, "Hey Donnie, have you seen…"

"Yee-haw!" Galloping through the living room, one hand holding a set of imaginary reigns, the other slapping the rear of a similarly imaginary steed.

Leonardo stopped, mouth hanging open, hand frozen halfway to Donatello's shoulder.

"Enough already!" The annoyed snarl came from the couch, where the fourth turtle slumped irritably, most definitely **not** pouting, thank you very much.

"Hah! What's a matter, ya sore loser?" A pink tongue came out, wagging tauntingly at the figure on the couch.

"That's it!" The turtle erupted from the couch, flying at his tormentor with fists raised.

Leonardo slowly turned to his only sane brother. "What happened?"

Donatello sighed, turning from the chaos before him to make his way into his lab…that had a lockable door… "Raph finally beat Mikey at Space Invaders."


	3. Day Four: Assiduous

_Disclaimer: Unless you don't recognize them, I don't own them. No money or other profits are being made from this attempt at entertainment. _

_**Please note, as with all my TMNT stories, the ages of the Turtles are Leo, Raph, Don then Mikey (from eldest to youngest). **__Personally, I just find Leo and Raph being the two eldest makes the most sense based on personalities and the interactions between the Turtles._

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_Please see the first drabble of this series for the full Author's Notes._

_And yes, I realize this is out of order. Day Five's word lent more inspiration than this one did, and so I finished that drabble before this one._

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Day Four: Assiduous

\uh-SIJ-oo-uhs\, adjective:

1. Constant in application or attention; devoted; attentive.

2. Performed with constant diligence or attention; unremitting; persistent.

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"Are ya sure ya don't need anything?" Raph asked for the eighth time in five minutes as he rose from his seat on a chair located next to the bed on which Donatello lay, preparing to finally take his leave.

Donatello took a deep breath, forcing himself to remember that Raph was just worried. All of his family was. Still, it was more than a little irritating to have everyone treating him as if he was made of china.

"I'm fine, Raph," he replied, shifting slightly against the pillows that were propping him up in a sitting position. On the night table beside the bed lay a large glass of water and an even larger stack of books; technical reference manuals for a few of his latest projects. On his lap was a laptop table, covered in papers littered with sketches and calculations.

Looking at Donatello, one would wonder why he was confined to the bed. Yes, his complexion was a little paler than normal, an IV was inserted into his left arm, and his face and arms were scattered with various scrapes and bruises, but none of it looked serious enough to explain his family's current paranoia when it came to his condition and comfort. Under the covers, however, his upper thigh was bandaged tightly, hiding from view the wound that had cut into his femoral artery and nearly cost him his life before his brothers and April had managed to stop the bleeding.

He was incredibly thankful that he had had the foresight to store extra blood in the infirmary for emergencies, as it had taken all Leo could safely give as well as the all of the compatible blood they had on hand to stabilize him.

Donatello's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the frame of the open door. He looked over as Leonardo was entering the room. His eldest brother made his way over to his bed, a smile on his face though Donatello could still see the worry in his eyes, and the dark circles under them. When Leo reached his side he reached up with his right hand, rubbing it gently over the top of Donatello's head.

Donatello did his best not to turn his head up and bite said hand. Extended bed rest always made him cranky.

"How are you doing? Any pain? Lightheadedness?"

"No, Leo," Donatello sighed, "I feel fine…thank you." He refrained from adding anything about that being the twenty-ninth time that day that Leonardo had asked. He was quite proud of himself for showing such restraint.

He knew he should be more patient with his family. He had had the easy job; he had passed out within minutes and so missed the entire ordeal. He could only imagine how he would feel if it had been one of his brothers and not himself to have suffered the wound. And at least he would have known what to do. From the little he had been able to pry from everyone regarding the events prior to his reawakening, there had been much chaotic panicking from all involved just to keep him alive until April arrived on the scene with an emergency medical kit. Even after she closed the wound, by that time he had lost so much blood that there was only the slimmest of chances that he would live.

They had hooked Leo up to him there on the rooftop, desperate to get him into a stable enough state that they could transport him to the lair. It was only extreme luck that the Purple Dragons they had driven off, or any of their other enemies, had not found them.

Yes, intellectually he understood that everyone had had an incredible traumatic experience, and it was only a natural reaction for them to be overprotective and concerned for his welfare.

"Hey, Donnie!" Mikey called, peering into the room from the doorway. "How you feeling? Can I get you anything?"

That didn't make it any easier to deal with, however.


	4. Day Six: Traduce

_Disclaimer: Unless you don't recognize them, I don't own them. No money or other profits are being made from this attempt at entertainment. _

_**Please note, as with all my TMNT stories, the ages of the Turtles are Leo, Raph, Don then Mikey (from eldest to youngest). **__Personally, I just find Leo and Raph being the two eldest makes the most sense based on personalities and the interactions between the Turtles._

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_Please see the first drabble of this series for the full Author's Notes._

_I'll be honest; I'm not in love with this one. But the purpose of these is to get me to write more, so here it is._

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Day Six: Traduce

\truh-DOOS; -DYOS\, intransitive verb: To expose to contempt or shame by means of false statements or misrepresentation; to represent as blamable; to vilify.

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"And in other news, the now notorious Mutant Turtle Gang has struck again, this time robbing the Bank of America branch located at 1143 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. This is the third bank to be hit by the group. While initially police had thought the perpetrators to be men or women dressed in turtle costumes, recent evidence obtained from the second crime scene suggests that they are in fact actual turtles, mutated somehow into their current forms.

"With more on the subject, we turn to Ed Simmons, who earlier this week spoke with mutation expert Doctor Laurie Neil from New York State University. Ed?"

The rest of the report was prematurely cut off, as a sai was thrown through the television screen. "Argh!" Raphael yelled, leaping from the couch to pace between it and the ruined appliance, arms waving violently as he spoke. "I don't believe this! What does the Shredder think he's gonna accomplish, besides pissin' us off? "

"I would imagine that at the very least he expects us to be less inclined to patrol the city, for fear of being discovered, which would greatly reduce the probability of us discovering and being able to stop his capers," Donatello commented from his seat on the couch. "Best case scenario in his mind, of course, would be for us to actually be caught by the police, or some other vigilante group. Now that people are actively looking for giant mutant turtles, going to the surface will be more dangerous than ever."

"But dude, we can't just sit here twiddling our thumbs! Who'd protect the City?" Michelangelo cried, spreading his arms wide, then gesturing with his right to the ceiling and City above.

"Who indeed," Leonardo replied, "I can't believe that the Shredder has stooped to this level. He truly is without honor."

"Hmm," Donnie agreed distractedly, his thoughts racing. "There must be more that we're not seeing here. Surely, people scouring the city looking for us will also make it far more difficult for the Shredder to successfully complete any of his own plans, even taking our interference out of the equation."

"You are correct, my son," Splinter spoke for the first time since the broadcast had come on, a troubled look on his face, "this current plot of the Shredder's makes no sense. There is undoubtedly some hidden factor that we are not taking into consideration. Oroku Saki does not act without reason."

"You don't suppose that he's trying to run us out of the City altogether, do you Sensei?" Donatello asked, turning to his Father. "It might make sense to him to put a hold on his plans now, if he thinks this current plot will eliminate our presence here and allow him greater freedom in the future."

"But what about the mutant turtle search? There's still going to be a heck of a lot of people nosing around looking for us. If we leave the City, they'd never find anything…"

"No search can be maintained indefinitely," Donatello shrugged. "Eventually, assuming the bank robberies stopped, the majority of people would give up and things would return to normal, or close to it."

"That no good bastard!" Raphael shouted, throwing his arm out sideways and hitting his fist on a wall. "I bet that's it. He expects us to run like cowards and leave the City to him and his Foot!"

"But what can we do about it?" Michelangelo countered. "He's going to keep setting us up until he gets what he wants, whatever it is. And as long as the robberies go on, everybody and their cousin are going to be hunting for us."

"What indeed," Splinter returned, rubbing his chin with his left paw as he considered potential options.


	5. Day Nine: Ameliorate

_Disclaimer: Unless you don't recognize them, I don't own them. No money or other profits are being made from this attempt at entertainment. _

_**Please note, as with all my TMNT stories, the ages of the Turtles are Leo, Raph, Don then Mikey (from eldest to youngest). **__Personally, I just find Leo and Raph being the two eldest makes the most sense based on personalities and the interactions between the Turtles._

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_Please see the first drabble of this series for the full Author's Notes._

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Day Nine: Ameliorate

\uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt\,

transitive verb; to make better; to improve

intransitive verb; to grow better

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"Hey Donnie, you wanna play tag with us?" eight year old Michelangelo asked, looking into the room that he and his older brother shared.

Donatello's head came up from where he was bent over a pile of what looked to be, at least in Mikey's opinion, junk. He had set aside a corner of their room for his various projects, bribing a promise from Mikey to never touch anything in it with the offer of doing his chores for two weeks.

Not that that stopped Mikey from hovering every so often…some of the stuff that Donnie worked on was **so neat** looking! But he did his best to keep his promise and not touch…although there was that one time…but that had been an accident! And Donnie had looked so sad…since then he had been extra careful, much to Donnie's relief.

"Thank you for the offer, Mikey," Donatello replied, setting aside his screwdriver to give his brother his complete attention, "but I'm right in the middle of this. I really want to get it finished before bedtime."

Michelangelo's face fell, he had really hoped that Donnie would play so Raph and Leo wouldn't gang up on him, but by now he was used to his brother bowing out of the games every so often to work on his projects. He couldn't complain too much, as it was those projects that had given them hot water and a working oven.

"Alright, if you change your mind, you know where to find us." With that Michelangelo left to join his brothers', who from the looks of it had either already started the game or else had begun fighting…again…while waiting for him to finish with Donnie.

******

Leonardo walked into Don and Mikey's room, heading directly for Donnie's workroom. "Donatello, it's time for training," he called out, reaching out to pull aside the blanket still isolating that corner of the room.

Before he could do so, however, a small olive-hued hand moved it away from the wall just enough to allow Donatello to slip through the gap, which was quickly and carefully closed behind him. "Thanks for the call, Leo," Donnie said, surreptitiously encouraging his brother to walk with him out of the room.

Leonardo looked back at the blanket before exiting, turning to his brother to ask, "What are you working on, anyway? You've been going at that thing for weeks."

Donatello shrugged as they continued towards the dojo. "It's a surprise."

Leonardo sighed, knowing he would get nothing more from his brother. When Donatello wanted to keep a secret, not even Splinter could get it out of him. "How much longer are you going to be working on it?" he couldn't help but inquire, "You've really been neglecting your training lately."

Donnie's face scrunched up in thought as he considered the question, ignoring his brother's comment on his training. As far as Leo was concerned, if you didn't train at least five hours a day like he did you were neglecting your training. "Another week...maybe two. There's a piece I'm missing, that I hope to get from the junkyard when Father takes me tomorrow night."

"Well, good luck, I suppose," Leo offered, trying to be supportive, though he didn't understand how his brother could be so enthralled by a bunch of broken junk. Not that he didn't appreciate the benefits that resulted from Donnie's hobby; he just couldn't see how Donnie could **enjoy** fixing all that stuff.

Finally they arrived at the dojo and entered, bowing their respect before making their way over to the rest of their waiting family.

******

"Yo, Donnie," Raphael greeted as he entered his younger brother's room, where his fellow middle-child was working, 'his' corner now surrounded by an old blanket that he had strung up to create a small workroom. Raph walked over to the bunk beds in the opposite corner and flopped down onto the lower bed.

"Hmm," he heard mumbled from behind the blanket, before his brother's head peaked around one edge. "Oh, hey Raph," he pushed the blanket aside slightly as he stepped into the room proper, "what can I do for you?"

"Just seeing what you're up to," Raph answered. "You've been in here all day today, and all day yesterday, working on this project of yours. We were startin' to wonder if you were ever gonna come out."

A blush stained Donnie's cheeks as he looked to the floor, his hands grasped behind his shell. His right foot traced imaginary patterns on the floor. "Ah, sorry. I'm just almost done, and I've been looking forward to finishing this for weeks now, and with it being so close now…I guess I've just been letting myself get carried away a bit."

Raph laughed at his brother's predictable answer; you could always tell when Donatello was approaching completion on a project, as the time he spent in his 'workroom' skyrocketed. "No worries, genius. I was just curious as to what you're workin' on this time."

If anything, Donatello's blush deepened, and his head dipped further down.

Raph chuckled again. "So it's a surprise, is it?"

Donnie nodded, looking up at his brother through his eyelashes.

"No worries, brainiac," Raph reassured his brother, now looking forward to the completion of whatever it was Donnie was working for more reasons than just getting his brother back. Whenever Donnie wanted to keep his project a secret, it always wound up being something totally cool. "I'll let you get back to it."

"Thanks, Raph," Donnie quietly spoke, sending a small smile at his older brother as he left.

******

"So, my son, do we finally get to know what it is that you have been working on so diligently of late?" Splinter knowingly asked Donatello, who had called them all into he and Mikey's room and was now preparing to finally push aside the blanket that had kept his brother's in the dark for over four months. Splinter, of course, was aware of what the project was, having helped Donatello carry many of the part he had found back to the lair.

"Yes, Father," Donatello replied, taking a deep breath before revealing his latest contribution.

For a long moment there was no sound, and Donatello started to fidget nervously. Finally Mikey stepped forward slowly, left arms stretched out in front of him as he approached the rectilinear box sitting innocently on the floor. Just inches away he stopped, as if afraid it would disappear if he tried to touch it.

"Is that…a **tv**?" he whispered, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Donatello nodded, surveying the reactions before him, "Yeah. Father and I found one in fairly decent shape at the junk yard several months ago. I've been working on getting it working since. There's a cable service line that runs not too far from here that I was able to tie into. I ran the line in a pretty round-about manner, so even if someone does discover that we're connected to it, it will be pretty tough for them to track it back here. I'm thinking of setting up some sort of proximity alarm, so if they do get too close we can…"

"**Awesome**!" Mikey shouted, ignoring Donatello's ramblings and leaping over to grab his brother in a bear hug. "**You** are awesome! This is so incredibly **cool**!"

Raph slapped Mikey in the back of the head when he noticed Donnie trying unsuccessfully to loosen his younger brother's grip. "Let go of him, doofus. He needs ta breath, ya know."

When Donnie had safely extricated himself from the life-threatening hug, Raph grabbed him in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles over his head briefly. "Nice job, Donnie. You really outdid yourself this time."

After being let go, Don stood up, straightening his bandana which had become askew when Raph grabbed his head. "Thank you, Raph!" he beamed, thrilled at the reception his gift was getting.

Leo stood, still considering the latest addition to the lair.

"Leo?" Donnie asked timidly, slightly apprehensive at his eldest brother's silence.

Finally Leo turned to address his three brothers. "I expect all of you to still keep up with your training, you know. I have to say, this is really impressive, Donnie. However," he continued, ignoring Mikey and Raph's groans. Moving quickly, he grabbed the remote from where it sat on top of the television and ran from the room shouting, "I call first dibs!"


End file.
